• Studios: Lerche
• Source: Original
• Genres: Music
• Synopsis: “To become an idol, I shed blood, sweat, and tears. Even so, I push on. I want to shine. I want to earn it. I want to become number one. I want to smile. I want to make my dreams come true. I want to look back at a sea of people. I want to be noticed. I want to find it. I want to overcome obstacles. I have only pride inside my chest. No one is in the spotlight from the beginning. Everyone is weak. Only those who do not break will reach the highest peak to become an idol. This is the story of idols who face big dreams and harsh reality.”

-MAL Rewrite

First Impression:

Idoly Pride was definitely not on the top of the list for me to watch, but I was intrigued by the PVs and the animation that it showed that I figure it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try! After doing a bit of research it looks like this will be a multimedia project which “will include anime, video games, music, and several other forms of entertainment” (ANN). I haven’t seen anything about the other media so I think the anime will be the kickstart to the Idoly Pride franchise. Let’s dive in!

Mana is the first one catch my attention in the preview and she’s absolutely stunning in the show! Her bright personality with her tendency to not be true with her feelings is a nice combination which makes her appealing! Not a surprised as she’s the rising star in this world of idols! The show revolves around idols and this AI called the Venus Program, which analyzes an idols performance and the reaction of the crowd to place said idols into a ranking system. It’s an interesting concept but a bit confusing as I’m not sure whether this is a has a hint of sci-fi or if that’s the only “sci-fi” thing about the show. The other characters are also well designed but we’ll talk about them later on.

One thing that I didn’t expect from an idol show is the really nice composition of scenery and backgrounds! It came as nice surprise that not only help establish the setting of the story but allows buffer scenes to come naturally giving you breathing room from one plot point to another. And by now I’m sure you’ve noticed the “wide screen” effect caused by the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. Most of this episode is a flashback that tells the origin story of Mana and her classmate and producer, Makino Kouhei. It’s a weird placement for a flashback but it gets the job done.

Nagase Kotono

Ibuki Nagisa (Left) & Shiraishi Chisa (Right)

Shiraishi Saki (Left) & Ichinose Rei (Right)

Narumiya Suzu (Left) & Saeki Haruko (Right)

Hayasaka Mei (Left) & Hyoudou Shizuku (Right)

Kawasaki Sakura (Left) & Nagase Kotono (Right)

I counted ten idols for Hoshimi Productions, the company that our main cast are associated with, and man that’s a BIG group of idols! And from what I read online there will be other companies and other units outside of Hoshimi productions! We can expect rivalries to occur as well as performances from the other units as well! That’s something that I’m really looking forward to! Speaking of performances lets take a quick look at the this last scene in the first episode where Hoshimi Productions Idol Unit takes the stage. A catchy song filled with fun and energetic choreography oozes the anime idol aesthetic but misses a bit on the “WOW” factor. There are some moments in the performance that did get my attention but the majority of it was predictable and at most…decent. There is a use of both 2D animation and character models (an attempt at capturing the aesthetic and visual appeal of Love Live performances) which is great but they don’t quite hit the mark.

Recommendation:

NO

Don’t get me wrong, I love idol anime and if you do too then definitely give this a try as it sounds like it’ll grow beyond just the 13-episode anime (there’s a potential to have multiple seasons). But for the regular anime gang, this will be a pass. The artwork and animation are lackluster and doesn’t have the pizzazz to keep your attention and the story telling doesn’t have right timing or elements to get you hooked on the first episode. Rather than include the flashback in this first episode, it would’ve been better to introduce the main cast along with a flashy performance to catch the audience’s attention and ending with the small plot twist at the end and then implementing the flashback during the second episode. But I’m just a silly blogger that watches anime, what do I know? What did you think of the episode? Let me know in the comments below!

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